Thursday, December 13, 2012

Bombshell Exclusive: Scientists Link Gulf War Illness to Chemicals From U.S. Bombings

The 20-year mystery overGulf War Illness,
also known as Gulf War Syndrome, is finally close to being solved.The Reno Dispatchis the first news outlet to report that two shocking new
peer-reviewed scientific research studies explain the enduring controversy over what caused many of the illnesses among literally hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans.

The first study confirms what many veterans already believed: weather patterns
carried a massive toxic chemical cloud resulting from the U.S. bombing of Iraqi
chemical weapon storage facilities a long distance before these chemicals ultimately fell on
U.S. troops.

This is being dubbed by some as the largest example of
"friendly fire" in American history, because the so-called nerve and blister agents that dropped on American troops were supplied to Iraq by the
U.S. before the Gulf War. These chemicals were then bombed by U.S. forces,
which lifted them into the atmosphere and dropped on our own troops.

The second study confirms that Gulf War Illness reports
were higher at the places where the sarin fell.

“Our peer-reviewed scientific findings bring us full circle
by confirming what most soldiers believed when they heard the nerve gas alarms.
The alarms were caused by sarin fallout from our bombing of Iraqi weapons
sites,” James J. Tuite, who led the first study, said in a statement.

Tuite, a former special agent with the U.S. Secret Service,
first came to this conclusion while heading the initial investigation into Gulf
War Illness for a U.S. Senate committee in 1994. Over the years, he continued
collecting evidence as national security adviser to Senator Robert Byrd,
President pro tempore of the Senate. But Tuite now has the science to back
up his assertions.

Gulf War veteranPaul Sullivan, a highly
respected veterans advocate who works at Bergmann & Moore, a law firm that
handles veteran disability claims, tells me, "For more
than two decades, no one believed us when we said we are sick, and no one
believed us when we said we were exposed to chemical weapons, including sarin,
cyclosarin, and mustard gas. Now we finally have overwhelming scientific
evidence that must immediately force the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to
provide healthcare and disability benefits, including presumptive benefits for
chemical exposures."

Sullivan adds, "Veterans need to urge our President to make sure no more of
the 250,000 sick Gulf War veterans wait for care and compensation from
VA."

The new findings, which are contained in two papers published
together in the journal Neuroepidemiology, are hugely significant
for Gulf War veterans. Why? Because prolonged exposure to sarin and mustard gas, for
example, results in long-lasting adverse health effects, and this new
scientific evidence should enable afflicted Gulf War
veterans to file new disability healthcare claims with the VA.
Gulf War Illness too often goes unrecognized and untreated by the department.
According to a 2011 VA report, only 55
percent of the 36,794 Gulf War Illness claims filed by 1990 – 1991 veterans
under a 1994 law were approved by the VA. But those numbers stand to significantly increase as a result of these new
studies, whose findings also haveprofound implications in Syria, where government forces have accused the rebel forces of using chemical weapons. President Obama said he is skeptical of these claims. Many believe it is the Syrian government that is preparing sarin chemical warfare agents for use in that nation's civil war.

In the first Gulf War study, civilian weather satellite images from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reveal a massive fallout
cloud rising from the bombing of Iraqi chemical weapon storage facilities near
Muthanna and Falluja, Iraq on the third night of the air campaign, January
18-19, 1991.
The fallout plume then traveled more than 350 miles and stalled over U.S. troop
positions in northern Saudi Arabia, triggering thousands of nerve gas alarms.

At the time, chemical warfare agent detection experts from four
different countries detected sarin and blister agents within U.S. troop
positions. Weather charts obtained for the newly published study confirm
favorable northerly winds heading from destroyed Iraq chemical warfare agent
targets and toward U.S. troops.

In 1991, the military assumed low-level nerve agents in the
fallout from the bombing caused the repeated alarms and detections. But when
the war ended, intelligence experts dismissed the possibility of long-distance
transit of these chemicals.

"The thousands of detections were left unexplained because
the military incorrectly assumed a fallout cloud could only move along the
surface and would have caused massive Iraqi casualties,” said Tuite. “The new
evidence confirms how high explosive bomb blasts propelled the chemical agents
through the calm nocturnal boundary layer into higher atmospheric layers where
high winds carried them over the long distances.”

The second study, led by Dr. Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology
at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, analyzed data
from an epidemiologic study of 8,020 randomly selected Gulf War-era veterans.
Haley concluded that hearing a nerve gas alarm was strongly associated with the
likelihood of developing the chronic brain symptoms known as Gulf War Illness.

In addition, Haley concluded, the more frequently nerve gas
alarms were heard by our troops, "the greater the chances of coming down
with Gulf War illness later. This dose-related risk was extremely steep and
highly significant given the large size of this statistically valid sample of
veterans."

The phenomenon of a large nighttime explosion penetrating the
calm surface air and traveling long distances by high atmospheric winds is
actually well recognized by scienctists, Tuite noteds in the study. For
example, it is the accepted explanation for how radioactive fallout from the
nighttime explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in 1986 was first detected
two days later in Sweden, more than six hundred miles away.

Most importantly, these two new studies could potentially help
tens and maybe even hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans who've suffered
from this mysterious illness, which an ever-increasing among of scientific studies say is neurologically based, rather that psychosomatic, as the VA still contends. Many veterans may finally get the
healthcare they have earned and deserve.

Gulf War veteran and veterans advocate Anthony
Hardie says that for more than 20 years, "many of us Gulf War veterans
have associated our chronic and debilitating multi-symptom illness with
chemical alarms and other hazardous exposures during the Gulf War. Today,
research now also firmly links our illnesses with the sounding of Gulf War
chemical alarms and an array of massive quantities of low-level Iraqi nerve
and, perhaps for the first time, blister agents."

Hardie says Haley's research findings are made "all the
more plausible given a large body of existing research linking Gulf War
veterans' illnesses to organophosphates, the class of closely related chemicals
that includes nerve agents, pyridostigmine bromide nerve agent protective
pills, and pesticides."

But Hardie emphasizes that VA still has "no proven
effective treatments for the roughly one-third of us veterans who remain ill
and disabled from our Gulf War service. How much more will it take for the
President, Congress and the VA to provide us the real help we still desperately
need?"

73 comments:

Don't hold your breath. The only time any politician in any party cares about the troops is when they can be used in a high-profile photo-op. And don't even think about prying any money loose from the tentacles of the octopus. The monster needs every dime it can get to make sure more Americans come home damaged.

I understand your frustration. I am a bit more optimistic. I do think the new leaders in the House and Senate Veteran Affairs Committees are both Gve us some reason for optimism. But I totally understand your cynicism about how much politicians care about our veterans.

IMHO the U.S. government owes these disabled vets compensation for 20 years of neglect and suffering. And a criminal investigation is in order for whoever was responsible for the 20-year delay. Many knew at the time the chemical weapons were responsible, and tests would reveal it, BUT SOMEONE COVERED IT UP.

Those of us that came after the war for occupation and clean up had Camp Doha, Kuwait go up in flames and explosions. These set off the melting of tanks that had depeleted armor attached. I was the FASCO S-3 ordered by BG Whaley to evacuate the 11th ACR's damaged equipment. To over see it I had to be on scene. I photographed QAASES (Kwases) personnel using Geiger counters and 11th ACR Service Company men welding depleted uranium back on to the M1-A1's for transport. CBS 60 Minutes did a piece on this some years ago. The govt denied anyone handled the DU. I called the Jackson State proffessor the next day. I sent him eight photos of the scenes. Proof positive, some of those guys died from exposure soon after. He also mentioned that he has had his life threatened over this issue being brought to light. A Retired Logistician Col.

No mention of the shots that we were given so that leaves out veterans who got the shots and were not deployed. No mention of the fact that we supplied Iraq with those chemicals up till 1992 and those records were declassified. So we sent them chemical weapons he used on us while we were there

" The first study confirms what many veterans already believed: weather patterns carried a massive toxic chemical cloud resulting from the U.S. bombing of Iraqi chemical weapon storage facilities a long distance before these chemicals ultimately fell on U.S. troops. This is being dubbed by some as the largest example of "friendly fire" in American history, because the so-called nerve and blister agents that dropped on American troops were supplied to Iraq by the U.S. before the Gulf War. These chemicals were then bombed by U.S. forces, which lifted them into the atmosphere and dropped on our own troops. "

I should add that the above commenter has an excellent point -- there's a good body of medical evidence showing that some troops who got anthrax vaccinations (and possibly others) developed serious illness, and of those, some remained permanently debilitated. It remains a point of contention that DoD's contracted RAND study on vaccinations, written by Dr. Beatrice Golomb, was never allowed to be published.

My Name is William Fuzi Most commentors here know of me. Has anyone looked at the list of adverse effects of the HepB vaccine thet we were all forced to get? That vaccine was one of the experimental vaccines that they gave us. I had a severe reaction to it and was not allowed to get a second dose. Also the HepB vaccine isn't included on the list of toxic exposures, but we were all forced to recieve them. One of the adverse reactions to it is swelling of the brain. We were the test subjects for this new HepB vaccine. We weren't an at risk group, because the second HepB vaccine was adminisered after the war. About 6 months after the War the new HepB vaccine was ordered to be given to all newborn babies in the US. Since the start of this vaccination campaign there has been an explosion of Autism, and ADD/ADHD in the offspring population that has been given this vaccine. Maybe the vaccine company should have waited to start giving this new vaccine to Americas children until they knew what was causing all of the Gulf War veterans to be sick. The vaccine companies want us to point at anything as long as it's not their vaccine.

@rp1588 -- good point, and this important 2011 study shows how much Iraqi troops were also affected. Of interest to us ill U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, those with the most symptom complaints were closest to Kuwait, adding even more credence to new evidence of the release of chemical warfare agents during the war.

I was a CBR Specialist in Korea 1n 1965 and was responsible for Nuclear prediction plotting for the army. Using available weather data and nuclear weapon tonage for ground or air burst, would plot what were called wind vector plots to show predicteded radiation levels for a given area at a given time. This is basically the same process for the chemical conditions noted in the article and the information should have been and I suspect was known within days if not hours of the incident happening. It took decades for the VA to admit coverage for Vietnam Vets for Agent Orange and then only with outside investigation and effort of others. The military and government have a reputation for not admitting cupability untill proven without a doubt that it is responsible. From one old vet to anther I hope this study and others bring good results for those vets who have suffered from Gulf War Syndrome.

that's why the illness was called a 'syndrome' - because there appears to be multiple (possibly interacting) causes: vaccines (given too close together in time, or in untested, unsafe combinations), plumes wafting from Nasiriyah and Khamisiya (I believe there was more than just sarin stockpiled there), depleted uranium (airborne dust), insecticides, toxic smoke from burning oil wells, and pyridostigmine... very unfriendly fire, it seems...

Imagine that...even with the testimony of a seasoned 1st Marine Division NBC Officer in front of Congress that the FOX NBC detection vehicles and other alarm systems were tested to 99.99% reliability, multiple alarms, simultaneously from various locations gave warnings indicating sarin...Marines having similar symptoms, 22 years later with this evidence, the VA will still question the validity.

Let's not forget two rounds exploding 400 out and 400 up and witnessed by this artillery subject matter expert (SME) (Artillery Survey, Meteorological and Radar Officer)--knowing the rounds were not smoke or high explosive--had his Marines go to MOPP Level IV. While calling in the sighting to Battalion Headquarters, (talking to the BN NBC Officer(another SME) the battalion detection alarms were going off in the background over the radio. I asked him what it was, and he stated, "Sarin...stay suited up at MOPP Level IV." Multiple times before and throughout the offensive into Kuwait, detection devices blasted the warnings. The NBC Officer was later reprimanded and given an adverse fitness report for being an alarmist during combat operations. Go figure!

I sit here in somewhat of a state of shock and I don't know why, this should not be a surprise to us. We knew when those alarms were going off, multiple locations at same time, it was more than just 'bad batteries', etc. Once again our gov't has let us down, it seems to happen to every Era of Vets. Yes people need to be held accountable for any cover-up, etc. but more than anything, we HAVE to stand by our comrades and fight for them, and us, so those affected are taken care of in an appropriate and respectful manner. Enough of the calling us liars or claiming no proof, its time to do whats right for our Gulf War Vets. -BRO Engineer

Is all about money is not about taking care of the soldiers issues. The US goverment cant afford to pay for all the soldiers issues in relation to a War so the best alternative is denied denied denied until most of those soldiers are dead. Then maybe later just like agent orange will say opps this is for real.

the US military and government health institutes have known about depleted uranium, the biological agents which were released through bombing of Iraqi sites and the contaminated vaccines in human bodies and their effects since 1996. But they hired some psychiatrists to pretend it was otherwise, and falsely claim that it "was all in the mind". Psychiatrists have labelled and still label gulf war illness as psychiatric and "all in the mind", a somatic syndrome. I think ordinary soldiers and ex-soldiers should be given the full report on Dr. Wessely (top British and international psychiatrist used by armed forces chiefs and governments) and his disciples and how they mislead them, and ruined their lives. The soldiers are sufficently trained to deal with this particular problem.

You guy's are going thru the same thing the Vietnam vets have gone thru with Agent orange..Same Kind of treatment from the VA, the Government, and the chemical manufacturers.. You will probably have to wait another 10 or 15 years before anybody admits to anything, or getting any help from the VA...sorry to say that, but it starts all over again..And it B.S.

If anyone out there is actually interested in the true cause for all this illness, the information is out there, but unfortunately the people in charge don't really care. Look up a Canadian scientist by the name of Don Scott(GOD bless his soul). His foundation has it all. Nuff' said. '89-'93, 2/67AR.

all along i was fighting illnesses within my body that most people cannot understand for over 20 years. even though i fought in the GULF WAR IN 1990-1991, the war never ended and continues.....not only within my body but in public such as a simple request for accommodations in our own federal government civilian workplace turns into a disaster....

I am the author of a book titled "Gulf War Syndrome: Legacy of a Perfect War," and I have also produced and directed a documentary titled "Gulf War Syndrome: Aftermath of a Toxic Battlefield." The latter film, which can be viewed on my website, www.alisonjohnsonmcs.com, contains extensive footage of James Tuite. My GWS book contains a Foreword by James Tuite, a chapter on Dr. Robert Haley's research, chapters on each of the major exposures that may have contributed to Gulf War syndrome, and stories from twenty-four veterans who developed GWS after their service in the 1991 Gulf War.

Your book and film are wonderful; very well done. Let us not forget the Iraqi army did use chemical weapons on us, it just wasn't us getting blowback from the bombed storage areas, and yes I was there, I'm not just talking smack.

I wanna add one missing piece of the puzzle. How many of you who participated in the gulf war had proper decon stations set up..we sure didn't. Our alarms went off on a daily basis......no decon stations. They dropped the ball big time on this one..they owe me big time. What a cover up...hope the oil was worth it

Decon stations? By listening to my chain of command briefings we didn't have any need for one. Even though we had alarms go off and other Nato units nearby were warning of gas and bio detections, our commanders dropped the ball big time on troop safety as a whole. When the real story breaks(if ever), it will bring our entire government down, either from being involved or by complicit stupidity. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out, look at the symptoms and then look at the biological warfare agents that he had at the ready(which he received from us no less)and you have a winner. Look up Brucellosis Melitensis and cross reference it against the Regal Report.

And that is the problem. Our government is complicit up to the eyeballs on this, but thankfully it is slowly unraveling. Syria is a pressure cooker waiting to blow. They have tons of WMD's at their disposal, including the ones that "didn't exist", that were supposed to be in Iraq that we gave to Saddam to use against Iran. It took over 20yrs. for our government to admit Agent Orange was a killer of our troops. How long will these cowards and traitors to our country keep this under wraps. I pray that when, or if this ever comes to a head that these individuals die by firing squad on TV.

The 20-year mystery over Gulf War Illness, also known as Gulf War Syndrome, is finally close to being solved. The Reno Dispatch is the first news outlet to report that two shocking new peer-reviewed scientific research studies explain the enduring controversy over what caused many of the illnesses among literally hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans.

WINKS LondonGreat stuff, This is something I was looking from so long, but every time I ended up struggling with useless information. ! You have jotted down the information in an organized manner and I would like you to keep coming with such educational pieces over and over again.

If the truth be told, friendly or enemy, who or what, something went wrong. I know because i was there, and there was times when we had to operate in MOPP four for chemical alerts. The higher command and the top U.S. commanders knows something went wrong.They have covered up that there was something went wrong. Its been 23 years and i am in pain all over my body, If they had come foward when this first happen maybe me and other vets could have gotten treatment and it wouldn't be so bad. We as veterans don't have anyone to prove to our goverment that it knew what was going on and did nothing about it, i am still in the process trying to get compensation and prove to them i am unable to do anything.I thank you and your staff for speaking the truth, but there's more. We should be compensated from the time they knew we were expose to something and they knew in 1991.

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Welcome

Jamie Reno, an award-winning correspondent for Newsweek for 20 years, has also written for The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, People, Men’s Journal, ESPN, International Business Times, The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, TV Guide, Mother Jones, MSNBC, Newsmax, Entertainment Weekly and USA Today. Reno, who’s won more than 100 writing awards, was the lead reporter on a Newsweek series on the 9/11 terrorist attacks that earned him and his colleagues the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, the highest award in magazine journalism. Reno is also an acclaimed author, singer-songwriter, advocate for cancer patients, war veterans and children, and 18-year, three-time cancer survivor. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Gabriela, and their daughter, Mandy.